Tacitus Breezes for Belmont

[Wandering Eyes]

Juddmonte Farms’ multiple graded stakes winner Tacitus (Tapit) breezed five furlongs over the Belmont main track Sunday morning in preparation for the June 8 GI Belmont S. The gray, last seen finishing third in the GI Kentucky Derby, covered the distance in 1:01.16 (3/11) in company with GSW Multiplier (The Factor).

“It was very good, very even; I liked the rhythm of it–12, 12, 12, 12. Each furlong was in about 12 seconds and he went out six furlongs in about 1:12, so I thought it was a very steady, solid work,” said trainer Bill Mott.

Mott also provided an update on his Kentucky Derby winner Country House (Lookin At Lucky), who was forced to miss the GI Preakness S. with a fever and will be pointed for a summer campaign.

“Country House is back on the track at Churchill–he’s jogging, he’s doing fine,” said Mott. “He’s a horse you’d look at for the [July 27 GII] Jim Dandy with the [GI]Travers as the [longer term] goal.”

In other Belmont news, Japanese hopeful Master Fencer (Jpn) (Just A Way {Jpn}), sixth in the Derby, jogged at Belmont for the first time early Sunday morning.

“Master Fencer had one lap of jogging on the training track, with a jog and light gallop at the main track as his schooling,” said Mitsuoki Numamoto, racing manager for owner/breeder Katsumi Yoshizawa. “The horse was very fresh and energized because of his day off yesterday, and shows no tiredness from shipment. Since the surface is pretty similar to Japan dirt, he seems okay for [racing on] this surface.”

Master Fencer is schedule to breeze five furlongs on the Belmont main track Wednesday morning under Julien Leparoux, who’s slated to ride the colt in the Belmont.

The post Tacitus Breezes for Belmont appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

View the full article